Toy rocket



May 27, 1969 F. w. WAHL v 3,445,954

TOY ROCKET Filed April 8. 1966 heet Frank/in W. Wah/ INVENTOR.

BY W MM,

F. w. WAHL TOY ROCKET May 27, 1969 Sheet Filed April 8, 1966 *Fr ank/in W Wah/ INVENTOR- @4052; mdfimqy-M TOY ROCKET Franklin W. Wahl, Huron, S. Dak., assignor of fifteen percent to Owen A. Mann, Miller, fifteen percent to John H. Weideman, Orient, and nineteen percent to Edward M. Par-sen, Miller, S. Dak.

Filed Apr. 8, 1966, Ser. No. 541,365 Int. Cl. A63h 33/20 US. Cl. 46-86 13 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A rocket simulating body having a nosepiece supported from its forward end for ready upward separation from the body. A first parachute is tethered to the nosepiece and completely enclosed within the rocket and a second parachute is tethered to the body and lightly frictionally retained in a rearwardly opening cavity of the body. The second parachute is ejected in response to air pressure thereby decelerating the rocket body and releasing the nosepiece and the first parachute due to their forward momentum, whereby both rocket body and nosepiece are lowered by their respective parachutes.

This invention relates to a toy rocket and more specifically to a toy which is adapted to simulate some of the ballistic missile-type rocket experiments carried out by the governments of several countries. The toy of the instant invention is in the form of a rocket which is adapted to be propelled into the air and which includes a projectile having two parts, a main body section or portion and a removable nose cone section or portion, each section lgeing equipped with its own individual parachute assem- The projectile is constructed whereby it may be propelled into the air and the parachute of the main body section deployed in such a manner that the projectile, before reaching maximum altitude, shall be caused to decelerate rapidly thereby allowing the mass of the nose cone section to decelerate at a lesser rate than that of the main body section. This difference in deceleration rates causes the nose cone section to continue forward thereby separating from the main body section. Deployment of the parachute of the body portion of the projectile will result in the body portion being lowered gently to earth by means of its parachute. Likewise, the nose cone portion, by having its parachute tethered so it is also deployed, will also be lowered gently to earth.

Most previous attempts at designing toy rockets have resulted in rockets including relatively complex propulsion and parachute releasing mechanisms and as a result these previous toys have required considerable mechanical aptitude and patience on the part of the child to make them function as they were intended to function. In addition, some types of toy rockets have not been provided with parachutes and while the use of impact-resistant plastic in the construction of these rockets enables them to fall to earth without breaking if they strike relatively soft material'upon landing, should they fall to earth and strike a hard surface such as a sidewalk or roadway, their construction of impact-resistant plastic does not prevent them from being broken.

One of the main objects of this invention is to provide a toy rocket, a projectile, having separable nose and body portions with each portion having a parachute member whereby the flight of these portions may be extended and controlled and the operation thereof will more closely simulate some of the various rockets developed by the military services of the United States and other nations.

Another object of this invention, in accordance with the immediately preceding object, is to provide a toy rocket nited States Patent Patented May 27, 1969 including completely automatic parachute deploying operations and constructed in a manner adapted to be propelled into the air by means of a slingshot-type of propulsive assembly.

Another object of this invention is to provide a toy rocket including means for controlling the height of flight of the separable portions of the rocket other than the force applied to the rocket by means of the propulsion assembly.

A still further object of this invention is to offer young sters an opportunity to learn at first hand some of the principles of aerodynamics, namely, the use of airfoil fins upon the body of the rocket in maintaining the proper attitude of the rocket during forward movement, the use of air pressure plus vacuum drag at the rear of the rocket in removing the parachute of the body portion, the use of air resistance in decelerating the main body of the rocket, and the use of increased air resistance in lowering both the body and the nose cone sections gently to earth.

And a still further object of this invention is to offer youngsters an opportunity to observe at first hand one of the laws of motion, principles of which were first reduced to mathematics by Sir Isaac Newton and are now referred to in textbooks as Newtons Laws of Motion.

Another object of this invention to be specifically enumerated herein is to provide a toy rocket which will conform to conventional forms of manufacture, be of simple construction and easy to use so as to provide a device that will be economically feasible, long lasting and readily reusable by children in play without requiring considerable mechanical aptitude and patience on the part of the child.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the toy rocket with certain of the internal portions thereof illustrated in phantom lines;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of a slingshot-type of propulsion assembly for the rocket;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the toy rocket shown with the parachute member of the body portion of the rocket in the process of being deployed;

FIGURE 4 is an exploded perspective view of the toy rocket shown as it appears immediately after the parachute member of the body portion of the rocket has been fully deployed;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the toy rocket illustrating the manner in which the body and nose cone portions of the rocket are lowered to earth by means of parachute members;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the top portion of a modified form of propulsion assembly for the rocket, parts of the toy rocket being illustrated in vertical section; and

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the lower portions of the modified form of propulsion assembly and the rocket with the propulsion assembly and rocket illustrated in a position rotated approximately 45 degrees from the positions thereof illustrated in FIC- URE 6.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings, the numeral 10 generally designates the toy rocket of the instant invention which includes a generally cylindrical body portion referred to in general by the reference numeral 12 and a readily releasable nose cone portion generally referred to by the reference numeral 14.

The body portion 12 includes fore-and-aft circumferentially spaced and generally radially extending fins 16 and 18. It will be noted that the fins 18 on the bottom end of the body portion 12 are considerably larger than the fins 16 on the upper or forward end of the body portion 12.

The nose cone portion 14 includes a smooth rounded forward end 20 and a transversely extending rear face 22 from which a generally cylindrical projection 24 extends rearwardly. The projection 24 is loosely receivable in the forward end of the body portion 12 with the forward edges of the body portion 12 abutting against the rear surface or face 22 of the nose cone portion 14. The projection 24 includes an anchor 26 to which the shroud lines 28 of a parachute member 30 are secured. In addition, the body portion 12 includes an anchor member 32 to which one end of a line 34 is secured, the other end of the line 34 being attached to the shroud lines 36 of a parachute member 38.

The body portion 12 has a partition 40 disposed therein blocking the unrestricted passage of air through the cylindrical body portion 12 during forward movement of the latter through the air when the nose cone portion 14 is removed. However, the body portion 12 includes circumferentially spaced and longitudinally extending air inlet slots 42 disposed rearwardly of or below the partition 40.

The propulsion assembly illustrated in FIGURE 2 and generally designated by the reference numeral 44 includes a single handgrip member 46 which is elongated and is suitably apertured at one end as at 48. An endless elastic member is passed through the aperture 48 and forms an elastic loop. The portion of the loop disposed farthest from aperture 48 may be engaged with anchor hook 52 carried by the forward end of the body portion 12 while the handgrip portion 46 is held in one hand and the rocket 10 is pulled in a rearward direction away from the apertured end of the handgrip portion 46 by the other hand of the user of the toy. Then the toy rocket 10 may be released by the latter hand and the elasticity of the member 50 will propel the rocket 10 in the direction in which the nose cone portion 14 is directed.

Before propelling the toy rocket 10 into the air certain preparations are made for launching. First, parachute member 38 is prepared by grasping the center or top of the chute in one hand and using the other hand to extrude most of the air therefrom by drawing the fingers of the latter hand over the chute in a direction toward the shroud lines. By so doing the chute is collapsed to a small size compared to its shape when fully deployed. The elongated shape of the chute is then folded double in the center and the shroud lines 36 wrapped thereabout and a continuous wrap of line 34 made over the top of shroud lines 36 thereafter, the parachute member 38 is inserted into and lightly f-rictionally retained in cavity 51. The additional line 34 offers a delay in the deployment of parachute member 38 after the latter is discharged rearwardly from the cavity 51, but a short part of the line 34 is not wrapped over shroud lines 36 to allow parachute member 38 to be inserted into lower cavity 51, FIGURE 1, preferably open end forward.

Likewise, the parachute member 30 is prepared with most of the air extruded therefrom in a similar manner to member 38 except that no additional line (as line 34) is employed other than the shroud lines 28. After wrapping, the parachute member 30 is inserted into the upper cavity 51, FIGURE 1, with the open end of the member 30 preferably innermost. The nose cone section 14 is then placed atop the body section 12 directly after member 30 is in place as section 14 is attached to shroud lines 28 at anchor 26 and shroud lines 28 form a part of the overall assembly of the nose cone section 14.

The toy rocket is then propelled into the air as described above. As the rocket assembly is moving rapidly upwardly through the air, it is apparent that normally there will be a tendency for a partial vacuum to be formed behind the body section 12. and therefore in the cavity 51. In relieving this vacuum air will enter the slots 42 and parachute member 38 will be pushed and pulled out of cavity 51 of the body section 12. Inasmuch as extra line 34 is wrapped over shroud lines 36 and the latter in turn wrapped over parachute member 38 there will be a delay before line 34 unwraps from over shroud lines 36 and shroud lines 36 can unwrap from over parachute member 38 and the latter may be fully deployed as illustrated in FIGURE 4.

After the parachute member 38 is fully deployed, the body section 12, to which parachute member 38 is attached, will decelerate rapidly. Because of inertia due to the mass of the nose cone assembly 14, the latter will continue forward at approximately the same velocity as before and, therefore, will separate from the body section 12, withdrawing the parachute member 30 from the cavity 51.

Since the parachute member 38 was previously deployed, the body section assembly 12 is now falling away and being lowered gently to earth. The parachute member 30 will be deployed somewhat faster than the parachute member 38 was deployed because of the absence of a line on the parachute member 30 corresponding to line 34. It will be appreciated that the line 34 has a very definite effect upon the height to which the rocket assembly 10 will rise because the length of this line controls the delaying action in deployment of parachute member 38 which in turn causes the rapid deceleration of body section 12 and initiates deployment of the parachute member 30.

It will be appreciated that both sections 12 and 14 of the rocket assembly 10 will be gently lowered to earth as shown in FIGURE 5. However, FIGURE 5 is for illustrative purposes only and there is no intent to indicate that the two members 12 and 14 will be lowered side by side as shown or even in close proximity one to the other. Each will be lowered in the immediate vicinity, however, but not necessarily at the same elevation nor shall the sections strike the earth at the same time. In fact, the simultaneous landing of the two parts would be unusual.

With attention now invited more specifically to FIGURE 6 of the drawings there may be seen a modified form of propulsion assembly generally referred to by the reference numeral 44 and which includes a relatively flat hollow base 53 disposed in a horizontal plane from which a pair of rocket-retaining levers 54. and 56 are pivotally supported as at 58 and 60. The propulsion mechanism or assembly 44' includes also a pair of perpendicular standards 62 and 64 supported from the base 53 at their lower ends and including space apart upper ends from which one pair of corresponding ends of a pair of elastic members 66 and 68 are supported.

When the propulsion assembly 44 is utilized, the rocket body portion 12 is provided with a pair of hook members 52 disposed diametrically opposite each other and the other pair of corresponding ends of the elastic members 66 and 68 are provided with eye portions 70 and 72 engageable with members 52.

The base 53 includes a substantially fiat upper surface 76 upon which the rear edges of the fins 18 are adapted to rest when the rocket 10 is disposed in the upright position illustrated in FIGURE 6. In addition, each of the fins 18 includes an outwardly projecting lug portion or elongated tip 78 and a pair of diametrically opposite lug portions 78 are engaged by the levers 54 and 56 to retain the rocket 10 anchored in position on the upper surface 76. A spring loaded releasing lever 80 is pivotally supported from the base 53 as at 82 and includes a handle portion 83 disposed outwardly of the base 53, which handle portion 83 may be manipulated to retract the hooked end portions 84 of the levers 54 and 56 from engagement with the lugs or projections 78. When the eye portions 70 and 72 are engaged with the hook members 52 and the bottom ends of the fins 18 are disposed on the upper surface 76 of the base 53 the elastic members 66 and 68 are stretched considerably to an elongated shape thereby enabling the latter to rapidly propel the rocket upward when the handle portion 83 of the lever 80 is urged downward to retract the curved or hooked portions 84 of the levers 54 and 56.

Accordingly, it may be seen that the operation of the toy rocket 10 is substantially identical whether it is propelled into the air by means of the propulsion assembly 44' or the propulsion assembly 44. However, the propulsion assembly 44' more closely simulates a rocket gantry assembly and therefore may be considered more desirable by some children because it is more true to life and because it offers the potential of greater heights being achieved in the launching of the rocket assembly 10'.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A toy rocket comprising an upstanding tubular body portion open at its upper and lower ends and adapted to be projected up into the air, a nose piece for the upper end of said body and loosely removably supported thereon against movement toward the lower end of said body portion and for ready movement by momentum away from said body portion in a direction extending away from said lower end, a partition insaid body portion below said upper end and defining a barrier to unrestricted flow of air through said body past said partition, a first parachute member loosely disposed in said body above said partition, means tethering said first parachute member to said nose piece for lowering of said nose piece by parachute upon separation of said nose piece from said body, a second parachute member disposed and lightly frictionally retained in said body below said partition, second means tethering said second parachute member to said body and in a folded condition within the latter, said tubular body having lateral air intake openings formed therein below said partition operative to intake air into said body below said portion and above said second parachute for blowing the latter from the rear end of said body during projection of the body up into the air, said second means including means operative to delay unfolding of said second parachute member after the latter is blown from within said body portion during the rapid movement of said body portion upwardly through the air.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said second means includes means operable to vary said delay.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said body portion includes generally radially outwardly extending fins on its lower end.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein the lowermost extremities of said fins terminate in a plane disposed normal to the longitudinal centerline of said body portion and spaced below the lower end of said body portion.

5. The combination of claim 1 including a propulsion assembly for said rocket comprising a base, a pair of uprights secured to said base in horizontally spaced relation, said rocket being adapted to have its lower end disposed on said base between said uprights, diametrically opposite portions of the upper end portion of said body portion including anchor means, and a pair of elongated elastic members having one pair of corresponding ends secured to said uprights above said anchor means and the other pair of ends removably attachable to said anchor means.

6. The combination of claim 5 wherein said body portion includes upwardly facing opposite side surface means adjacent its lower end, said base including retractable anchor means shiftable between out-of-the-way release positions and positions overlying said opposite side surface means retaining said body portion in position on said base against the upward pull of said elastic members thereon.

7. The combination of claim 6 wherein said body portion includes generally radially outwardly extending fins on its lower end.

8. The combination of claim 7 wherein said opposite side surface means are carried by outer extremities of said fins.

9. The combination of claim 1 wherein said body portion includes generally radially outwardly extending fins on its upper end.

10. The combination of claim 1 including a propulsion assembly for said rocket comprising a handgrip having secured thereto an elastic member, one end of which is attached to the handgrip and the other end of which is removably attachable to said rocket.

11. The combination of claim 1 wherein said body portion includes generally diametrically spaced hook means on its upper end adapted to be engaged with one pair of ends of tensioned elastic propulsion members.

12. The combination of claim 1 wherein said body portion includes generally radially outwardly extending fins on its lower end, the lowermost extremities of said fins terminating in a plane disposed normal to the longitudinal centerline of said body portion and said plane is spaced below the lower end of said body portion and the lower extremities of said fins being equipped with outwardly protruding tips including upwardly facing surface means, said base including retractable anchor means shiftable between out-of-the-way release positions and positions overlying said opposite side surface means reraining said body portion in position on said base against the upward pull of said elastic members thereon.

13. A toy rocket comprising an elongated body adapted to be projected up into the air, a nose piece, means removably supporting said nose piece from one end of said body against both lateral movement relative to said body and movement toward the other end of said body and afifording for free separation of said nose piece outwardly of said one end of said body, said other end of said body including a rearwardly opening cavity, a first folded parachute assembly disposed and lightly frictionally retained in said cavity and tethered to said body, a second parachute assembly tethered to said nose piece for lowering of the latter by parachute upon separation of said nose piece from said body, fully enclosed within said rocket when said nose piece is mounted on said body, and readily deployable upon separation of said nose piece 50 from said body, said body including air inlet means operative to intake air into said cavity forwardly of said first parachute assembly for blowing the latter from said cavity in a delayed action manner in response to rapid movement of said rocket through the air.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,213,205 9/1940 Crary 46-86 0 2,997,809 8/ 196 1 Gladen.

3,014,308 12/ 1961 Parris.

3,087,695 4/ 1963 Potts.

3,121,292 2/1964 Butler. 

